Understanding visitor–resident relations in overtourism: developing resilience for sustainable tourism

Abstract

While almost all travel destinations seek to increase tourists, less attention is paid to balancing the growth in tourists against consequent visitor-resident irritants, which is essential if the objective is to make tourism more sustainable. Overlooking the carrying capacity of a destination is a common mistake committed when formulating travel visa policies. Overtourism is a term recently used to contextualize this potential hazard to many popular tourist destinations worldwide. One notable case in point is the "multiple-entry permit" policy implemented in Hong Kong which is causing conflicts between mainland Chinese visitors and Hong Kong residents. To investigate the overtourism phenomenon in Hong Kong we develop a hysteresis model. We hypothesized that ceteris paribus, the implementation of a "multiple-entry permit" policy would lead to an overwhelming growth in day-trippers and cause a permanently negative cointegrating relationship with residents' sentiment. We confirmed our hypothesis by using the bound tests of Autoregressive-Distributed Lag models. Our findings suggest that policymakers should note that the deterioration in visitor-resident relations from overtourism may exhibit a significant hysteresis effect that will persist far beyond the original stimulus. "Developing resilience in tourism" and "exploring sustainable degrowth" are discussed as potential strategies for long-term tourism growth.

The Relationship of Subjective Well-Being in Residents’ Perceptions of the Impacts of Overtourism in the City of Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil

“…In contrast, tourism activity can increase the local cost of living, contribute to the increase in noise pollution, agglomeration, traffic, crime problems, contributing to the decrease in the residents' well-being. In addition to the assessment related to the subjective well-being perceived by residents, the concept of overtourism is also directly related to how much the destination can deal effectively with the social and environmental effects generated by the tourist activity in its territory [2,34].…”

“…Thus, when the adverse effects of the tourist activity outweigh the benefits generated by the activity, a negative feeling may arise in the residents regarding the development of tourism in their destination [1,40,41]. Overtourism has been considered one of the greatest threats to global tourism development [34,42].…”

Temporal Distribution as a Solution for Over-Tourism in Night Tourism: The Case of Suwon Hwaseong in South Korea

“…When over-tourism occurs, residents experience its side effects in environmental, economic, and social aspects, whereas tourists experience a decrease in visit satisfaction due to crowding, and a lower likelihood of return visits [3][4][5]. Irresponsible use of resources due to tourism development has led to conflicts between tourists and locals, creating difficulties in sustainable tourism [6]. Side effects from over-tourism have been reported around the world, and solutions are being sought [2,[5][6][7].…”

Tourism Development in Inner Mountain Areas—The Local Stakeholders’ Point of View through a Mixed Method Approach

“…Some authors suggested activities to galvanise winter tourism and/or support the summer season on the basis of economic sustainability, for example, considering the snowmaking issues [10][11][12] or defining adaptation strategy plans [13][14][15]. Some others underlined that eco-tourism and natural heritage in mountain areas can be considered important alternatives to incoming sources and stimulate new opportunities [16,17].When taking into account the Alps, tourism is an outstanding phenomenon-with about 120 million tourists per year [18], the Alps are one of the most visited mountain ranges in the world.Arrivals and presences in the Alps, however, vary from destination to destination; in some alpine valleys, tourism is so developed that is starting to create concerns around its environmental and social implications due to over tourism [19,20]. On the other hand, some alpine valleys, which do not have renewed hallmarks, are not popular even if the local context would be able to provide guests with an interesting tourist offer.…”

“…Arrivals and presences in the Alps, however, vary from destination to destination; in some alpine valleys, tourism is so developed that is starting to create concerns around its environmental and social implications due to over tourism [19,20]. On the other hand, some alpine valleys, which do not have renewed hallmarks, are not popular even if the local context would be able to provide guests with an interesting tourist offer.…”